


Cagey

by rudbeckia



Series: Random Worlds [48]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 04:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12975642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: Set in the days after the previous fic in the series.Armitage invites Ben to play a larger part in his business life. Ben meets investors and media mogul Snoke, who makes him an offer.Where does Ben’s loyalty lie, and how will Armitage react to the news that Snoke is interested in Ben?





	Cagey

Ben woke first and cursed as he remembered where he was. He’d cracked the instant Armitage showed emotion, losing all his resolve to be strong and stand up to him as soon as the first tears flowed. He consoled himself that although he’d been manipulated into coming back home, he had insisted on sleeping in the guest suite that used to be his. He’d held Armitage but had spoken sharply when Armitage wept again, told him to stop it and start thinking about what he really wanted from Ben.

With a yawn and a stretch and a sigh, Ben woke up properly. All the clothing he’d left behind was in the master suite where Armitage slept and he hadn’t thought to rescue anything for the morning. He wandered down to the master suite in his underwear, opened the door carefully and peered in. The bed was unmade, but Armitage was not there. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ben went in and collected clean sweats for himself then took the bundle into the ensuite and got into the shower. When he came out, fully dressed with hair towelled and finger-combed, Armitage was still absent. Ben ventured downstairs. There was coffee in the machine and Armitage sat at the table reading something on his iPad. He looked up when Ben came into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” said Armitage with a nervous smile. “Did you sleep well?”  
“Yeah,” replied Ben as he helped himself to coffee. “You?”  
“Uh. Do you want to come to the _First Order Industries_ winter ball on Friday as my date?”  
Ben stopped with his coffee cup halfway to his face. He looked across the kitchen at Armitage but Armitage scrutinised his screen.  
“You mean as your... boyfriend? Not your... whatever your backers call me?”  
“As my companion. I hate the term _boyfriend:_ we’re not teenagers.” Armitage still would not look up. Ben stared at him, noting his furrowed brow, the pink tinge on his cheeks and the way his hands clasped tightly together making his knuckles whiten. Ben sat down and thought for a moment. He stalled with trivial questions while his mind whirred.  
“Do I have to wear a suit?”  
“Yes. It’s black tie so you’ll have to let me take you shopping. If that’s a problem, you can bring your own credit card.”  
“Will I have to make smalltalk with assholes?”  
“Absolutely.” Armitage nodded slowly. “Flatter them. Flirt a bit if you can stomach it.”  
“Huh.” Ben sipped coffee. “Can I call you cupcake in front of them?”  
“Absolutely not! It’s a professional networking opportunity, not a party.”  
“What about pumpkin-pie?”  
“No.” Armitage shook his head but Ben saw his hands relax and his lips twitch.  
“Jaffa cake? Doughnut? Battenberg?”  
“What the fuck, Ben!” Armitage looked up and laughed at last. “You are obsessed with giving me cake-based pet names.”  
Ben waited for the perfect moment, when Armitage had just raised his cup to his lips, and replied, “That’s because I want to put you in my mouth, my sweet little yule-log.”

Once Armitage had recovered from snorting coffee down his nose and Ben had laughed himself silly, Armitage insisted that they go shopping immediately.  
“It’ll have to be something off-the-peg, unfortunately,” said Armitage, “but if we go to my tailor right away they will have whatever you want altered so that it fits you properly.”  
“My normal suits fit fine,” protested Ben, but Armitage smiled and shook his head.  
“For normal work, yes. Not for a formal. You need something that shows class. You’re with me, and I have appearances to keep up. Can you handle wearing a _proper_ label instead of _George_ for the evening?”  
“Fine,” Ben frowned. “But nothing I can’t afford on my own.”  
“Oh, of course,” replied Armitage. “I’ll tell them in advance not to bring out anything over... what do you think is reasonable for a black-tie event?”  
Ben shrugged. “Dunno really. A couple of hundred? Two-fifty?”  
To his credit, Armitage did not even blink. He reached for his phone and said, “I’m sure we can find something. You go get dressed while I call ahead and have them pick out a few styles in advance.”

As always, Armitage Hux received an obsequiously warm welcome from the manager. He introduced Ben, guiding him into the shop with a cool hand on the small of his back. Once Ben and the manager had established that Ben was looking for a black-tie formal outfit for under three hundred, Armitage excused himself.  
“Ben, I won’t insult you by staying to supervise your fashion choices.” Armitage kissed Ben on the cheek and winked at the manager over Ben’s shoulder. “I have other business in town. I’ll be back in an hour or two.”

For Ben, the time passed slowly. Armitage’s tailor came down from her workroom to advise on alterations and Ben changed into outfit after outfit, each time standing on a low step so that trouser hems could be marked, then standing still while spare jacket fabric was folded and pinned. When Armitage arrived back, Ben had been prodded, pulled, smoothed, chalked and pinned into more suits than he cared to count. Armitage nodded in approval at the particular one Ben was wearing.  
“You are going to look irresistible in that with a crisp, formal shirt and a bow tie,” he said. ”The colour is perfect for you.”  
“It’s black, sweetheart,” replied Ben.  
“And you look very nice in black.”

Ben huffed. “I’m not trying on anything else. If you think that one is okay then that one will do. I stopped caring an hour ago.”  
Armitage laughed and nodded. “Well then, hand over your credit card and go get changed.”  
While Ben was busy in the changing room, Armitage signed for the difference between the number on the handwritten tag on the hanger and the real price.

The suit and a formal shirt arrived from the tailor on Thursday afternoon and hung in Ben’s old room until Friday evening. Armitage was going straight from work and Ben dressed by himself, tying the bowtie the way Armitage had shown him and slipping in the cufflinks that Armitage lent him. A limo arrived at exactly the time Armitage had said it would. On arrival, Ben showed his invitation and he was ushered into the venue as cameras flashed, capturing his face just in case he was _someone._ Armitage was inside already, talking and laughing with a small group of well-dressed women and smart-suited men. As Ben walked towards them, Armitage’s patter fell silent and his jaw hung loose. Ben pushed a hand through his hair and smiled.

“Uh!” Armitage recovered his senses. “Um. May I introduce you to Ben, my partner?”  
Ben faced four pairs of eyes: one amused, one disinterested and two hostile. He settled into character and smiled. “Armitage, my dear. May I tear you away from work for just a few minutes?”  
“Of course!” said Armitage. “Please excuse me.”  
Ben steered Armitage to the dance floor and let Armitage lead a lazy waltz. “You looked very bored.”  
“You look very fuckable.”  
“Want to?” said Ben with a teasing smile. “I bet the bathroom is big enough.” Armitage laughed.  
“I wish!” He pulled Ben closer. “Maybe later. For now we have work to do. See the woman in the royal blue dress?”  
“Mmhmm.”  
“Name’s Carise. Rich. Status junkie. Flirt. Drop hints that if she invests double I can introduce her to some minor royals.”  
“Got it.”  
“And the old man in the gold tux?”  
“Wow, is he actually alive?”  
“Ha! Yes. That’s Snoke. Very powerful, owns a few media corporations. Suck up and offer him whatever you think he wants.”  
“Ugh! Anyone else?”  
“Yes. See the man standing by the champagne? Well...”  
Ben listened and prompted for more information until the music changed, and by the time Armitage led him from the dance floor to their seats at the main table, Ben was well briefed on the various weaknesses of Armitage’s business partners.

After dinner, Ben saw little of Armitage but did not want for company. It felt like every single one of Armitage’s business associates wanted to pump him for information. To each one, he told a little common truth and a different lie. Carise left convinced that her additional investment would buy her a title next New Year. Champagne-man was more cagey but eventually revealed some facts that Armitage would definitely want to hear. A couple of other minor associates gave up information easily, but Snoke was a different prospect altogether. Armitage was not interested in his investment power, but his ability to bend headlines and make or break people through his media empire.

Snoke eventually turned his deep-set, wrinkled orbits on Ben.  
“Come here, my boy.” Ben shuddered internally but obeyed. Snoke puffed out a ghastly, breathy laugh. “I find you interesting. Like me,” his bony, crooked finger pointed at Ben, “you have a talent for persuasion. For making fools believe. Sit here beside me for a moment, boy. I have an offer for you. No!” He held his finger vertical. “Do not speak of it here. Come to my estate tomorrow afternoon and I promise it will be worth both our whiles. I could use someone like you now that Armitage Hux is finished. _First Order_ needs a new young figurehead. Someone who can manipulate people like you can.”

Ben found Armitage shaking hands with champagne-man at the bar. He took Armitage’s elbow and waited until his business finished, then walked Armitage to the lobby.  
“Take me home. Please.”  
“Already? There’s another hour at least.”  
“I mean it. I have to leave. Without you if I must.”  
Armitage looked at Ben’s face and nodded. He called for the car and they sat in silence on the back seat. Once inside the house, Armitage faced Ben.  
“What the fuck happened? One minute I have Carise writing me a cheque and three other investors upping their contributions. Next I’m pulled away by you freaking out.”  
“Snoke,” said Ben. “He told me—“ Ben fumbled in his top pocket and pulled his phone out. “Listen for yourself. I had my voice recorder on all evening.”

Hux plugged in his earphones and listened, face growing stonier by the second. Eventually he pulled off his earphones and looked at Ben, tight lipped and ashen cheeked.  
“If Snoke wants you gone, you’re sunk. If Snoke wants to put you on a pedestal, you rise. Trust me, I know. Ben, are you with me? Can I count on you to do what I ask for the good of the independence of _First Order Industries,_ and save questions for later?”  
“Of course!” Ben nodded. “I’m with you.”  
“Good.” Armitage took out his own phone. “We’re going to need help. Go pack for a weekend at Snoke’s country estate. I’m calling the expert.”

Ben slept badly and woke early. He felt Armitage shift beside him, half-remembered snatches of hushed, one-sided conversations. He turned and held him close.  
“Arm? Armitage?”  
“Ugh, Ben, you only use my name when you’re upset.”  
“I am upset! I’m worried. What will Snoke do when I won’t have anything to do with his plans? Is he out to destroy you?”  
Armitage kissed Ben’s forehead, stroked his hair and laughed without humour. “Don’t you fret about me,” he said. “Play along and give the walking corpse whatever he asks for. Leave the rest to me and Phasma.”


End file.
